You're the Colour of my Blood
by arysa13
Summary: Betty wears a sexy costume for a party, and Archie can't take his eyes off her.


Archie's dad is away for the weekend, so naturally, it's Archie that hosts the Halloween party. He'd kind of been coerced into it, but it's fine. He's having fun. It seems like everyone from school is crammed into his house, though some of them he can barely recognise now that they're in costume.

Archie struts through his living room, dressed as a sexy cop. Well, he was just going for cop, but if Fairy Queen Veronica tells him he's a sexy cop, he's not going to deny it. Of course, she'd hurried to follow that comment up with the assurance that under absolutely no circumstances was she trying to get back together with him. That ship has long since sailed, and she's with Reggie now. Archie never would have predicted _that_.

Archie takes a sip of his Corona, then raises it to Kevin across the room, dressed as… some kind of royalty? Beside him, Moose wears a Superman costume. Those two finally worked their shit out.

Archie spots Jughead sitting on the sofa, tapping away at the keys on his laptop, squashed between Sweet Pea and Josie making out on one side, and Ethel on the other, dressed as a witch and seemingly off in her own little world.

Archie grins, swaggering over and pushing Jughead's laptop closed.

Jughead looks up in annoyance. "Archie," he deadpans, "can you not?"

"You're not writing in the middle of my Halloween party. You're here to have fun," Archie tells him.

"Writing _is_ fun."

Archie takes in Jughead's pirate costume. "Pirates don't write. And anyway, it's against the rules."

Jughead snorts. "Says who?"

Archie taps the fake police badge attached to his belt. Jughead rolls his eyes.

"Talk to some people," Archie suggests. He inclines his head towards Ethel, but Jughead doesn't seem to be paying attention anymore. His eyes are wide, focused on something behind Archie. Archie swivels around, and his eyes immediately alight on the source of Jughead's distraction. Betty.

And looking at her now, Archie can't exactly blame Jughead for being distracted. She's wearing a nurse costume, and _sexy_ doesn't even begin to cover it. It's shorter than anything he's ever seen her wear before, and tight too. The neckline dips so low that her lacy red bra is visible, and a hell of a lot of cleavage. Archie completely loses his train of thought, and he clears his throat, trying to rid it of the lump that's suddenly lodged there. His eyes trail down her bare legs to where she's wearing red stilettos.

Betty looks over, and grins when they make eye contact. Archie struggles to smile back, still stunned by her appearance. He's sure his face is the same colour as his hair. She makes her way over, and he feels like he might die. He's pretty sure it just got about ten degrees hotter in here.

Archie glances at Jughead, and feels a sudden wave of nausea. Jughead and Betty aren't together anymore, but with the way Betty's dressed, and the way Jughead is staring at her, Archie can't help but think that might not be the case by the end of the night.

Betty reaches them, and Archie has completely forgotten how to formulate words. It's taking all his brain power to keep his eyes on her face.

"Hey," Betty says brightly. She takes in the boys' costumes. "A cop and a pirate. Nice."

"Uh huh," Archie manages. Betty raises an eyebrow at him, and he feels like an idiot. His face grows even hotter. He hopes it's dark enough in here for her not to notice.

"And you went with sexy nurse," Jughead snorts. "Original."

"And you came up with pirate all on your own did you?" Betty laughs. Jughead looks a little sheepish. "Hey, Ethel."

"Hi, Betty," Ethel says.

Betty turns back to the boys. "Have you guys seen Veronica?" Jughead shrugs. Archie shakes his head. Betty looks amused. "Thanks for all your help," she says. "I'm going to find her."

She turns and walks away, and Archie's eyes are glued to her ass the whole time. He can't help it. When she's finally out of sight, Archie swings back around to Jughead, only to find Jughead already looking at him, his expression indecipherable. Archie swallows.

"You're not… still into her, are you?" Archie asks. "I mean. Do you think you guys are going to get back together?"

Jughead smirks. "Why? Because you want her?"

Archie chokes on his beer. "No! I'm not—that's not—I—" he splutters. Jughead just looks amused.

"It's fine, Archie," Jughead assures him. "Betty and I are done. We both know that."

"But that outfit…" Archie points out. Surely it's a _trying-to-get-back-with-my-ex_ outfit.

Jughead shakes his head. "Trust me, Archie. That's not for me."

"Girls don't just dress up for boys, you know," Ethel interjects. Archie and Jughead look at her dumbly. "Maybe she just wants to look good for herself."

Sweet Pea snorts loudly. "Yeah, right. I saw what she was wearing. She's looking for attention." Josie gives him a light smack on the arm.

"He's annoying, but he's right," she says. The two of them go back to making out.

Archie doesn't know what to think. His stomach flips over at the thought of Betty. And it's not just the outfit, either. Lately he's been feeling like that a lot. Like there's a whirlpool in his stomach every time she's around. The outfit only makes it worse.

Archie downs the last mouthful of beer and heads to the kitchen to grab another one from the fridge.

Betty is back in the living room, chatting to Veronica, when Archie returns. He's pretty sure he's going to have to avoid Betty for the rest of the night if he wants her to keep thinking he's got any kind of decency. If she knew what he was thinking right now she'd probably never speak to him again.

He probably should be looking where he's going as he walks back across the room to Jughead, but his eyes never leave Betty, and then Veronica drops her magic fairy wand, and Betty bends to pick it up, and Archie thinks if he tilts his head the right way, he'll be able to see right up her dress, because that's apparently what he's reduced to now. He's pathetic and vile.

But karma is on her game tonight, and Archie somehow manages to trip over his own feet, or someone else's, and he goes flying. The bottle drops out of his hand first, hitting just the right angle to smash on the floor, and then Archie slams into the ground on top of it, the glass cutting into his bicep.

Archie groans in pain, grabbing the wound with his uninjured arm. His fingers come away wet with blood. The next thing he knows he's surrounded by people, Betty kneeling beside him and Veronica and Reggie leaning over him, concerned expressions on all their faces.

"I'm fine," he assures them, sitting up.

"You're bleeding," Betty points out.

"It's nothing," Archie says.

Veronica takes charge then. "Betty, take him to the bathroom and fix his arm up. Reggie and I will clean up the mess."

Betty nods and helps Archie to his feet.

"Thanks," he mutters to Veronica.

Betty leads Archie upstairs and into the bathroom. She rifles through the cupboards under the sink until she finds the first aid kit, then she wets a towel to clean away the blood so she can inspect the wound. She's so close Archie can smell her flowery perfume, and his stomach is in knots.

"Nurse Betty to the rescue," he jokes.

Betty smiles and Archie's heart swells. "It doesn't look like there's any glass in the cut, and it's not that deep," she says. "I'll just bandage it up."

"Thanks," Archie says. She smiles again and his heart lurches. God, he's got it bad.

Betty focuses her attention on his arm, patching up his wound, and Archie takes the opportunity to gaze at her up close. His eyes take in her soft blonde curls that he'd like to run his fingers through, her wide green eyes, framed by delicate eyelashes, her pretty pink lips, slightly open as she concentrates on his arm. He can't stop his eyes from trailing down further, falling on her open dress, her cleavage perfectly framed by the red bra. Blood rushes from his head to his groin.

"Archie," Betty says. "Are you staring at my boobs?"

Archie flushes. He looks up to find her looking at him, but the curve of her lip tells him she's more amused than annoyed.

"A little bit," he admits. Betty goes a little pink herself, her hands still on his arm, thumb brushing his bicep, though she's finished with the bandage. She looks back to the now bandaged wound and quickly draws her hands away.

"There. All better."

Archie's heart thunders in his chest. Betty's proximity is almost unbearable. She doesn't move away at all, and it only takes one swift motion for Archie to bring his good arm around her waist and draw her lips to his.

She gasps, like she's surprised, but her body responds instantly, her fingers curling against his chest as he crushes her body to his, her lips moving against his slowly but confidently.

They break apart and Betty looks down at her feet, stepping away from him.

"You okay?" Archie asks. Seconds ago, he was certain she wanted him back, but now he's not so sure.

"Yeah," Betty says, her voice coming out hoarse. She clears her throat. She looks up again. "I'm fine. But you're drunk so—"

"I'm not drunk."

"Huh?"

"I only had one beer. I'm not drunk."

Betty tilts her head. She's so adorable, and Archie wants to kiss her again so badly.

"If you're not drunk, how did you manage to fall over and cut your arm open?" Betty asks.

"Oh, uh—" Archie flushes. "I was a little distracted. Wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."

"Distracted by what?"

Archie shakes his head in fond exasperation. Does he really have to spell it out for her? "By you, obviously."

"Me?" Betty squeaks.

"Betty, this outfit…" he trails off, looking her up and down. "You look so sexy. But you know that."

"I mean… kind of," Betty shrugs, turning a little pink. "But I didn't think _you_ would think it was sexy."

"Don't you want me to?"

"No, I want you to," Betty says, a little breathlessly. "I mean, I _hoped_ you would." She steps forward again, her arms winding around his neck, and Archie's eyes flutter closed as she kisses him again, and the whole room spins. He doesn't want to stop kissing her, ever. But then she's letting him go, and he knows they have to head back down to the party before someone starts to miss them.

"For the record," Betty says. "You look really sexy in your costume too."

Archie grins. "Thanks."

Betty fingers the plastic handcuffs hanging from his belt. "Maybe you can use these on me sometime," she says, biting her lip.

"Or you can use them on me."

Betty raises an eyebrow. "That can be arranged."

Archie breathes out slowly, trying to slow his racing heart and cool down a little. She's not making it easy.

"Come on," she says, taking his hand. He can't resist kissing her once more, knowing that once they're surrounded by people, he won't be able to. It's unspoken, but he thinks they both want to keep this to themselves for a while.

But he's never been good at hiding things, and the two of them are back downstairs for all of five minutes before his heart eyes give them away. But he can't even be annoyed with himself, because it means he gets to kiss her again and again and again.


End file.
